What makes an effective phonics program

Qualified teachers tend to get better results when delivering phonics interventions up to twice the effectiveness of other staff , indicating that pedagogical expertise is a key component of successful teaching of early reading.

A systematic review conducted by Macquarie University examined the impact of phonics on struggling readers. The review was based on 11 studies, including one Australian study.

It concluded that for struggling readers phonics had a moderate effect on word reading accuracy and a lower effect on reading comprehension and spelling. Overall, the evidence base related to phonics is very secure. There have been a number of studies, reviews and meta-analyses that have consistently found that the systematic teaching of phonics is beneficial. Several robust studies of phonics programs in English have been published in recent years. The findings show that phonics programs can be effective in English schools, but also underline the importance of high quality implementation.

However two other programs, both targeting struggling, older readers, did not improve reading outcomes. So, your school has bought or created a synthetic phonics program. It provides a scope and sequence for all teachers to follow.

You have some high-quality resources at your disposal including, of course, the resources from Phonics Hero and you know the principles of synthetic phonics instruction. The question is: What does an effective phonics lesson look like? Hattie has synthesized over meta-studies on learning and achievement and has identified instructional routines that have the biggest impact on student learning.

The book opens with the statement:. Every student deserves a great teacher, not by chance, but by design. John Hattie. Most learning does not happen by chance. Teachers must design, set up and implement lessons that use strategies that have a significant positive influence on learning. The strategies that teachers use should have an effect size of over 0. When learning is visible, students can articulate what they are learning, set learning goals, see errors as opportunities for learning and seek feedback and assistance.

The best phonics lessons I have witnessed make every second count. That means being fully prepared; no wasted time fiddling with resources or whiteboards, having ready a differentiated bank of decodable words, and implementing a prearranged seating plan which facilitates support for those children who are struggling. Included is 3, decodable words, 1, nonsense words and 2, decodable sentences — all with video, audio and picture support.

Check out how it works:. Firstly, here is a Word template of this phonics lesson structure for you to use. It follows this routine:. You will be able to read more words in books by yourself. Of course there are accounts of students whose progress was turned around by a phonics program - the comments section of this post will no doubt have some of those testimonials - but there are many more who languish in those programs.

Phonics programs can be helpful for students with very particular learning needs, but solutions to pointy end problems are not helpful for all learners.

Consider what the problem is that you are trying to solve before you commit to buying a phonics program. If the problem is your students write phonetically, and cannot read phonically irregular words, then more phonics is not the solution. If the problems are reading comprehension and quality of writing, then invest in your library and your staff. Buy quality literature and spend money on professional learning. Portsmouth Climate Festival — Portsmouth, Portsmouth.

Edition: Available editions United Kingdom. Become an author Sign up as a reader Sign in. The School House Talking research, issues and ideas for teachers, students and learning. Phonemic awareness and phonics often appear similar, but they are not the same. However, they are co-dependent skills and their instruction often overlaps. Phonemic awareness is auditory, focused on sounds and does not involve print. Phonics, on the other hand, focuses on the relationship between sounds and letters and involves print.

Children learn to recognize and differentiate sounds heard in phonemic awareness. Phonics allows children to take that phonemic awareness knowledge and link it to print in written language.

By explicitly and systematically teaching children phonics, you are helping them to understand that there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters graphemes and spoken sounds phonemes.

Understanding the relationships between letters and sounds allows children to pronounce, comprehend, and decode, new words as they encounter them in print. It is important to explicitly teach phonics skills through modeled, guided, and independent teaching strategies. This allows the teacher to provide a scaffold and gradually release support to the child.

Daily phonics instruction should not exceed fifteen to twenty minutes. If you are looking for specific activities to teach phonics, check out some of my previously written blog posts about using magnetic letters. Students need frequent opportunities to practice and apply developing phonetic knowledge using authentic and fun reading and writing activities.

Both reading and writing draw upon the same sources of knowledge letters, sounds, words, and syntax. In writing, we construct words to provide meaning and in reading, we decode or take words apart to gain meaning.

Thus, the two processes are reciprocal and dependent upon the knowledge gained from phonics instruction. Applying the knowledge and skills gained from phonics instruction in reading and writing can also help teachers gauge whether or not students have mastered or gained an understanding of the instruction.

Because each child comes with a wide variety of experiences, teachers must be flexible in their phonics instruction so that that individual student needs can be met. It is important to establish what each child already knows about phonics. By continually assessing the needs of the individual students, a teacher can tailor instruction to meet specific needs.

Phonics instruction is not a complete stand-alone reading program, nor can it assure success in reading for all students by itself. As a critical component in beginning reading, it is only one piece of a larger puzzle. Combining phonics instruction, along with phonemic awareness, vocabulary, fluency, and reading comprehension strategies, provides the best approach to teaching children how to be successful, lifelong readers.